Opening Reception and Talk

“Representing and re-defining L.A.’s Latino experience…”

The exhibition highlights a moment in the careers of a cadre of Chicano authors and artists who would later receive critical acclaim for representing and re-defining L.A.’s Latino experience. ChismeArte Magazine offered writers and artists a rare venue in which to experiment with Chicano identity.

The magazine’s motto — a “Molotov cocktail for aesthetic appetite” — illustrates that provocative stance toward its readers. Not always seamless in their pastiche, the magazine’s creators attempted to use ChismeArte as a vehicle for self-expression and critical debate within the Chicano community.

ChismeArte is presented in collaboration with Kennedy Library, the Ethnic Studies Department and the Chicana Latino Faculty Staff Association (CLFSA).